The District of Columbia has agreed to pay $50,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a protester who was arrested after following National Guard troops while playing the Darth Vader theme song from "Star Wars." The settlement resolves claims of unlawful detention and excessive force.
Sam O’Hara, who stated he is satisfied with the settlement but wished the individuals responsible for violating his rights, rather than taxpayers, bore the cost, filed the lawsuit in October 2025. He alleged violations of his First and Fourth Amendment rights, citing restrictions on free speech and unlawful seizure with excessive force.
The incident occurred on September 11, 2025, when O’Hara reportedly walked behind several National Guard members patrolling a D.C. street and played "The Imperial March" on his cellphone. The lawsuit characterized the protest as satire, intended to comment on President Donald Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops in D.C. neighborhoods.
According to the lawsuit, one of the National Guard members alerted the police, who then stopped and handcuffed O’Hara for 15 to 20 minutes before releasing him without charges. The lawsuit named Washington, D.C., four Metropolitan Police Department officers and an Ohio National Guard member as defendants, seeking compensatory and punitive damages for false imprisonment, battery, and constitutional retaliation.
The increased presence of National Guard members in the nation's capital began in August 2025, following President Trump's declaration of a crime emergency. This deployment had been a point of contention for some residents, who viewed it as an overreach of federal authority.